QUINTIN HEAD 2015 13.45 Saturday 31st January INSTRUCTIONS FOR COMPETITORS 1. River closure The river will be closed for the Quintin Head. The closure will extend from Kew Railway Bridge to the Mile Post and will start at 12.45pm. The river will reopen progressively from Chiswick Bridge as the last crew proceeds down the course and will completely reopen when the last crew finishes. Notice to mariners is listed here http://www.pla.co.uk/assets/u19of2014-15headsclosurentm-1.pdf During the river closure crews should be in the middle of the river when travelling with the tide and as near the bank as conditions allow when travelling against the tide. All coxes must be familiar with the Rowing Code of Practice for the Tidal Thames between Putney and Richmond before boating at any time. The code and a good one page summary can be found at http://www.thames-rrc.org/index.php/safety/navigation. Outside the river closure crews must steer in accordance with the code. Incidents whilst boating on the tideway either during the race or otherwise should be reported to the Regional Rowing Council using the online reporting system. Incidents during the race should also be reported to the race organisers. Comments and suggestions about any aspect of the race to [email protected] 2. General Further instructions may be issued to competitors and visitors prior to the event, please check email, website and twitter for up to date information. The race organisers will be following the recently introduced guidance for race safety shown in Appendix 1. In any event the size, configuration and cancellation of the event will be a decision taken by the committee and chief umpire. Parking – Parking for trailers and safety vehicles only will be available in the car park at Quintin Boat Club (QBC) . Drive to end of Ibis Lane, bear left into the car park. Only trailers that have gained prior permission may park in the club. All other parking will be in Hartington Road. IN NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHOULD COMPETITORS’ CARS BE PARKED IN IBIS LANE. IBIS LANE IS A PRIVATE ROAD AND ANY CARS PARKED THERE ARE LIABLE TO BE CLAMPED BY THE RESIDENTS. Facilities - Changing facilities, hot showers, a licensed bar and refreshments will be available at QBC. Numbers - may be collected from the QBC gym from 09.30 on the day of the race, or from the QBC clubroom between 19.00 and 20.30 on the Thursday beforehand. (The gym is the single storey building to the left of the boathouse as you are facing the river.) Numbers will not be issued unless entry fees have been received. Three paper numbers will be issued, one each for bow’s racing vest and outer top, and the third for the cox. In addition, a plastic number will be provided for the Empacher slot of each boat. During the race, if any number is not clearly visible the crew risks not being timed. Each entry fee has included a £10 deposit for the plastic number. After the race £10 will be refunded at QBC for each returned number. For a month after the race, deposits will be refunded on numbers returned at QBC or sent to Malcolm Cook at 15 Seychelle Court, Foxgrove Road, Beckenham, Kent BR3 5XU. All competitors must have their British Rowing cards available for inspection if requested. 3. Safety All competitors are expected to be familiar with and comply with both the mandatory and advisory sections of British Rowing’s Row Safe. All boats must comply with the rules of racing regarding heel restraints and bow balls. The race officials may inspect boats at random to check compliance. Failure to comply will mean exclusion from the event unless rectified in time. All coxes must wear a life jacket or other suitable buoyancy aid. Crews boating from the river foreshore should be aware that there may be sharp objects underfoot and hence that appropriate footwear should be used to wade in and out of the water. Captains of clubs are responsible for ensuring that all coxswains have appropriate experience and knowledge to undertake coxing on the Tideway. A minimum age of 14 is normally expected. Any crew or club which is involved in a verifiable navigation incident on the Tideway may be excluded from the event. This rule will be in effect for the 14 days prior to and including the day of the event. Boats that do not carry identification numbers complying with the British Rowing requirements may be penalised. All competitors must ensure that they are wearing sufficient layered clothing suitable for the conditions. Again refer to Appendix 1 for guidance. All crews – especially older ones – are advised to carry a mobile phone in case they need to summon medical help urgently. In the event of a medical emergency on the water, a crew phoning 999 should ask for the coastguard and not for an ambulance. All coxes must be aware that when their crew is not rowing, the boat will be moving with the tide. Care must be taken and appropriate allowances made when close to bridges, piers, moored boats and other fixed hazards. Coxes should therefore take care to avoid shallows near the river’s edge. 4. Boating and marshalling Key times in normal conditions – which should be adjusted depending on the strength of the tide • Boat at Putney by 12.45, Hammersmith by 13.00 and Barnes Bridge / Chiswick by 13.15. • If coming from Putney, you need to be at the Chiswick Steps Crossing point no later than 13:05. • Crews boating from the Middlesex side of the river at Hammersmith must be across the river on to the Surrey bank by 13:15. • All crews wanting to start in their allotted start position must be in the marshalling area by 13:30 and in position by 13.35. The crews will be arranged in 5 divisions. The first 4 divisions will be of 50 crews each. The fifth will be made of approximately 50 crews. The size of this division depends on the size of the entry and how many latecomers we have. Division 1 – No 1 to 50 will marshal on the Surrey bank, bows pointing upstream, starting by Putney Town Rowing Club Steps. The rest of the division will then marshal upstream of No. 1 in number order so that No.50 is nearest to Kew Railway Bridge. Division 2 –No 51 to 100 will marshal immediately upstream of the lock gates beside MAABC on the Middlesex bank, bows pointing upstream. The rest of the division will then marshal upstream of No.51 in number order so that No 100 is nearest to ULBC. Division 3 – Crew 101 to 150 will marshal below Chiswick Bridge on the Surrey Bank, bows pointing upstream. Crew 150 will marshal opposite the Boat Race Finish post. The rest of the division will marshal in reverse order downstream so that No.101 is closest Barnes Bridge. Division 4 - No 151 to 200 will marshal below Chiswick Bridge on the Middlesex bank, bows pointing upstream. Crew No 200 will marshal immediately downstream of the Boat Race finish marker, facing upstream. The rest of the division will then be marshalled in reverse order downstream so that No 151 is closest to Barnes Bridge. Division 5 – Crew 201 to 250 will marshal below Barnes Bridge on the Surrey bank, bows pointing upstream. Crew 250 will marshal opposite Emanuel School Boat Club. The rest of the division will marshal in reverse order downstream so that 201 is closest to the Chiswick Steps crossing point. Warming up is not allowed in the marshalling area. This is defined as the section of river from Kew Rail Bridge to Chiswick Steps. Crews will proceed to the start following the standard navigation pattern for the Tideway. There is one exception to this - All crews proceeding up to the start from Putney and Hammersmith will proceed upstream on the Surrey bank to the Chiswick Steps crossover point (a marshal will be positioned here to monitor crews). Crews for division 2 and division 4 will crossover onto the Middlesex bank all the way up to their marshalling positions. Crews for divisions 1, 3 and 5, should not cross over at the Chiswick Steps crossing but stay on the Surrey bank all the way to their marshalling positions. CREWS MUST NOT AT ANY TIME PROCEED UPSTREAM IN THE MIDDLE OF THE RIVER AGAINST THE TIDE. Crews must obey the instructions of the marshals. Once they have reached their marshalling position they must maintain their position either in contact with the bank or very close to it. Since there may be a strong tidal current, crews will need regularly to paddle light in order to keep their position. Crews should point their bows slightly in towards the bank so that the stream does not catch the bows and swing the boat away from the bank. 5. Procedure for stopping the race If the race is abandoned before the start, crews will be instructed to return to their boathouses, under the control of marshals, in a safe manner following the navigation rules. If a serious incident after the start of the race makes it unsafe to continue, any race monitor (or the starter) may stop the race by instructing crews to "STOP RACING", which will be reinforced by the use of air horns and red flags. A collision between two racing crews will not necessarily be a reason for stopping the race. Unless circumstances dictate otherwise, crews will be instructed to return to their boating areas, following normal navigation rules.